Not all's well for Mamata? After Amit Shah, Himanta predicts boost for BJP in Bengal

West Bengal polls: Days after polling for the first phase of West Bengal was over, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma sounded an optimistic note for the BJP. He also predicted that the saffron party is going to win a huge number of seats in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Sarma said, "I can confidently say that the tsunami that has come, if it goes above 200 (BJP seats in West Bengal, it will not be a matter of surprise. I have attended every election in West Bengal in 2016 and 2019, but this time, the public's attitude towards the BJP is something that we have never seen before."

He said that people have now openly started supporting the BJP, adding that there is a change in the atmosphere after the first phase of voting concluded on April 23. "People now strongly believe that the BJP is going to win in West Bengal."

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On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Mamata Banerjee is on her way out of office, and it will be a clean sweep in the constituencies that went to polls in the first phase.

Citing the BJP's internal assessment, he claimed, “From the feedback we have received, the people of Bengal have decided their future in the first phase itself. This land has chosen development under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The voter turnout in the first phase has revealed that Didi is leaving, and the BJP is going to come to power."

Shah said that after the second phase of polling is over, the BJP will be in a solid position to form the government in West Bengal. “The BJP will win more than 110 of the 152 seats. This means that after the second phase, we will be in a position to form a BJP government in West Bengal.”

Record voter turnout in phase 1

West Bengal recorded 92.9% polling in Thursday’s first phase, the highest since Independence, with 3.6 crore registered voters voting in 152 of 294 seats. In 2021, turnout was 82.30%, and the TMC retained power with 213 seats.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, "Highest ever percentage of polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since Independence – ECI salutes each voter of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu." The turnout came after the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision deleted nearly 91 lakh names and added seven lakh voters.

The SIR cut the electorate from 7.6 crore to 6.8 crore. Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, Malda, Nadia and South 24 Parganas saw high deletions, while Kolkata lost nearly seven lakh voters. Many people working outside the state returned to vote amid fears over deletion and citizenship, while 2.4 lakh CAPF personnel were deployed.

South Dinajpur recorded 95.36% turnout and Cooch Behar 95.5%, while several Murshidabad seats crossed 96%.